At present, with a “post-American” president at the helm, Sarah Palin carries the torch of liberty and American exceptionalism in the palm of her lovely hand. She is the surviving embodiment of the spirit of 1776 and the Reagan reformation.Need anyone say more?
She is at once the American phoenix and the shining city on the hill, captured in the imaginations of a people still yearning to be free and determined to strive for greatness, even if the rest of the world prefers to drown in mediocrity, corruption and defeatist socialist uniformity.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Palin v. Obama: ‘Real’ American v. the ‘Citizen of the World’
Kyle-Anne Shiver writes at Big Journalism:
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Polished and Ready
If you think she's big now, just wait until she's a behemoth.
During the 2008 presidential campaign, it was most frustrating trying to tell those who believed that Sarah Palin was a "snapshot in time" that we were actually looking at an "evolving candidate." While many bought into the caricature that the media painted, this blogger sat back looking at the attacks and the uncertainty with a kind of dismay, a lack of understanding at how people just didn't understand what I saw: a great one that was only running the early laps of her greatness.
Palin's greatness is a concept that will have to be proven to many disbelievers before they can see what I've seen in advance. The Sarah Palin that ran for vice president was the closest thing we've ever had since Ronald Reagan. And that's when she sucked.
The sing-song, happy go lucky girl who believed she could fly regardless of what the people thought has evolved into a polished woman who commands hundreds of thousands of dollars a speech, has written a best selling book and has access now through her position at Fox News to a media that once tried to destroy her. If I was a liberal, that would scare the crap out of me.
The woman on Fox News' O'Reilly Factor tonight was polished and ready. Word is she also brought the house down at her speech in Arkansas. Because the standard for her is so much higher than it is for the rest of the political field, it's almost impossible to imagine how big she will be when she breaks through and convinces the American people she's ready to lead. If there is anyone that leads this country, it should be someone who will have to go through the grueling test that will improve her even more than the one she's just been through. No one can make it through that kind of a "workout" without becoming ridiculously huge.
During the 2008 presidential campaign, it was most frustrating trying to tell those who believed that Sarah Palin was a "snapshot in time" that we were actually looking at an "evolving candidate." While many bought into the caricature that the media painted, this blogger sat back looking at the attacks and the uncertainty with a kind of dismay, a lack of understanding at how people just didn't understand what I saw: a great one that was only running the early laps of her greatness.
Palin's greatness is a concept that will have to be proven to many disbelievers before they can see what I've seen in advance. The Sarah Palin that ran for vice president was the closest thing we've ever had since Ronald Reagan. And that's when she sucked.
The sing-song, happy go lucky girl who believed she could fly regardless of what the people thought has evolved into a polished woman who commands hundreds of thousands of dollars a speech, has written a best selling book and has access now through her position at Fox News to a media that once tried to destroy her. If I was a liberal, that would scare the crap out of me.
The woman on Fox News' O'Reilly Factor tonight was polished and ready. Word is she also brought the house down at her speech in Arkansas. Because the standard for her is so much higher than it is for the rest of the political field, it's almost impossible to imagine how big she will be when she breaks through and convinces the American people she's ready to lead. If there is anyone that leads this country, it should be someone who will have to go through the grueling test that will improve her even more than the one she's just been through. No one can make it through that kind of a "workout" without becoming ridiculously huge.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Sarah Palin's Best Speech Since The Republican National Convention 2008
It's All About What She Wrote on Her Hand
Sarah Palin brought the house down in Nashville at the Tea Party Convention on February 6, 2009 in what many considered to be her best speech since her RNC speech in 2008. The following day, she appeared on Fox News Sunday to give what many considered to be her best national interview ever. Never one to be ignored by the media, Palin was praised and worshipped by some while vilified and brutally attacked by others afterwards. The biggest question raised from this whole thing is "how smart is she really?"
And before some of you libs or disgruntled Tea partiers who think the guy that gave us Sarah should be politically crucified and voted out of the Senate start accusing me of Sarah worship, let me set one thing straight. I'm biased for a reason. This isn't about being blinded by some pretty lady from Alaska who quotes my main man, Ronnie, all the time. It's about someone that fills the high leadership criteria that I established years ago.
You need to be able to motivate people by both word and deed. You need to be willing to never ask your people to do anything that you are not willing to do. You need to be positive and make people feel good about themselves. People work for praise, recognition and then the money. For Palin supporters, we feel praised by her, the recognition part is vivid and we know the money's coming down the road if her economic plans are ever enacted. You need to be of good moral and ethical caliber. And, it's more important that you be able to surround yourself with the smartest people in the room than to be the smartest person in the room. Brains on tap, not on top.
Another principle for success is the willingness to pay the price. If anyone has paid the price, it's Sarah Palin. Add outside the box thinking to the criteria I just laid out. The next great one that comes after her is going to have to fill that one, too.
After Ronald Reagan passed, I didn't think anyone would ever live up to those standards again in my lifetime. I was willing to go with whoever came close enough and settle if I had to. The shining city on a hill had seen its better days. I could only dream of the day when it would come back.
Then came Sarah.
I have been "worshipping" Sarah long before I knew who Sarah was. It's the values, the qualities, the characteristics and the "I get the deal" feeling I've been looking for in that next great one that I've been worshipping since Ronald Reagan. And Sarah Palin personifies that.
Now here's the rub. I saw an article on Huffington Post the other day that I thought was a little off kilter. No, not because it was bashing Sarah, but because it was praising Sarah in a strange way. The writer asserted that Sarah Palin had written on her hand ON PURPOSE so as to provoke the lamestream media into talking about her and the key points she wanted to make in her speech. A blogger named Marion also pointed out that the liberal New York Magazine had made a similar assertion.
"Ah, you're nuts," I thought to myself until I heard the interview with Sarah Palin on the Bob and Mark Show. When asked if she was amazed at how easy it is for her to get under the skin of the other side, Palin responded:
Someone call 911.
This is going to sound like overkill. And I can see the liberals and non-Palin supporting conservatives finding someone to draw the political cartoon of me standing before a statue of the Virgin Mary with Sarah's face on it with the guy behind me saying "this Palin worship thing has gone way too far now." But, let me say it the best I can and anyone, feel free to quote me out of context if you like: Sarah Palin is smarter than I think.
I, the ever praising, ever pressing and ever pushing Sarah Palin supporter, didn't think she's that smart. Reading Going Rogue and getting inside her head like that is very intimidating for me. Yes, I see so many of my own shortcomings when I read that book. I see how "unworthy" I am when I read that book. But, unlike some bloggers from Alaska who go to pieces when they juxtapose their miserable selves with Palin's self, I look up to her. Yet, she's still one of us. She's someone you could walk up to in a coffee shop and just have a normal conversation with. She likes my shirt (who the frig am I?). But that's all part of the greatness. It's that which makes me feel like "how the hell do I still not totally understand how great she is if I think she's so great."
Marion called her a "mad genius." I've seen what she did in her book to become mayor and governor. I've seen what she's done with her life after losing a national election that dragged her family through the mud and then being forced out of her governorship by a looming personal bankruptcy that would have been thrust upon her by those who want her destroyed at any cost. What does she do with the "hand" she's dealt? She writes on it and gets everyone to read that her message is energy, tax cuts and lifting the American spirit. I would have just flipped them the bird and headed off to an island somewhere if it was me.
There are days when this blogger just wants to give up on the punditry, the political science text books and how politicos judge politicians by set rules and strategies. I've said it before and I'll say it again. I'm just a mere mortal here.
We just don't understand the scope of it yet. We're just not capable of seeing how big she really is. We think the biggest thing she could ever do is to run. But, someday, she's going to fly.
Sarah Palin brought the house down in Nashville at the Tea Party Convention on February 6, 2009 in what many considered to be her best speech since her RNC speech in 2008. The following day, she appeared on Fox News Sunday to give what many considered to be her best national interview ever. Never one to be ignored by the media, Palin was praised and worshipped by some while vilified and brutally attacked by others afterwards. The biggest question raised from this whole thing is "how smart is she really?"
And before some of you libs or disgruntled Tea partiers who think the guy that gave us Sarah should be politically crucified and voted out of the Senate start accusing me of Sarah worship, let me set one thing straight. I'm biased for a reason. This isn't about being blinded by some pretty lady from Alaska who quotes my main man, Ronnie, all the time. It's about someone that fills the high leadership criteria that I established years ago.
You need to be able to motivate people by both word and deed. You need to be willing to never ask your people to do anything that you are not willing to do. You need to be positive and make people feel good about themselves. People work for praise, recognition and then the money. For Palin supporters, we feel praised by her, the recognition part is vivid and we know the money's coming down the road if her economic plans are ever enacted. You need to be of good moral and ethical caliber. And, it's more important that you be able to surround yourself with the smartest people in the room than to be the smartest person in the room. Brains on tap, not on top.
Another principle for success is the willingness to pay the price. If anyone has paid the price, it's Sarah Palin. Add outside the box thinking to the criteria I just laid out. The next great one that comes after her is going to have to fill that one, too.
After Ronald Reagan passed, I didn't think anyone would ever live up to those standards again in my lifetime. I was willing to go with whoever came close enough and settle if I had to. The shining city on a hill had seen its better days. I could only dream of the day when it would come back.
Then came Sarah.
I have been "worshipping" Sarah long before I knew who Sarah was. It's the values, the qualities, the characteristics and the "I get the deal" feeling I've been looking for in that next great one that I've been worshipping since Ronald Reagan. And Sarah Palin personifies that.
Now here's the rub. I saw an article on Huffington Post the other day that I thought was a little off kilter. No, not because it was bashing Sarah, but because it was praising Sarah in a strange way. The writer asserted that Sarah Palin had written on her hand ON PURPOSE so as to provoke the lamestream media into talking about her and the key points she wanted to make in her speech. A blogger named Marion also pointed out that the liberal New York Magazine had made a similar assertion.
"Ah, you're nuts," I thought to myself until I heard the interview with Sarah Palin on the Bob and Mark Show. When asked if she was amazed at how easy it is for her to get under the skin of the other side, Palin responded:
You could just kind of count on whatever it is that I do or wear or scribble on the palm of my hand or anything else, you know it's gonna get somebody wee-wee'd up. So, you guys, in a kind of perverted way I guess it's sort of fun because it's like okay if I want to get a message out there about tax cuts and lifting the American spirit and energy, let me write it on my hand and the (inaudible) picks it up and look what happens! But, ya know, it's a bazaar, bazaar thing and, um, I'm just gonna keep plugging away though. I'm not going to let 'em tell me or anyone of us to sit down and shut up. We'll keep forging ahead with this message.I was talking to a friend of mine about the Huffington Post article the other day and he was like "there's no way she did it on purpose." I told my buddy, "I kind of agree with you, but you'll have to call the hospital if I ever find out it's true because it will blow my mind so bad that there will be blood everywhere from my head exploding."
Someone call 911.
This is going to sound like overkill. And I can see the liberals and non-Palin supporting conservatives finding someone to draw the political cartoon of me standing before a statue of the Virgin Mary with Sarah's face on it with the guy behind me saying "this Palin worship thing has gone way too far now." But, let me say it the best I can and anyone, feel free to quote me out of context if you like: Sarah Palin is smarter than I think.
I, the ever praising, ever pressing and ever pushing Sarah Palin supporter, didn't think she's that smart. Reading Going Rogue and getting inside her head like that is very intimidating for me. Yes, I see so many of my own shortcomings when I read that book. I see how "unworthy" I am when I read that book. But, unlike some bloggers from Alaska who go to pieces when they juxtapose their miserable selves with Palin's self, I look up to her. Yet, she's still one of us. She's someone you could walk up to in a coffee shop and just have a normal conversation with. She likes my shirt (who the frig am I?). But that's all part of the greatness. It's that which makes me feel like "how the hell do I still not totally understand how great she is if I think she's so great."
Marion called her a "mad genius." I've seen what she did in her book to become mayor and governor. I've seen what she's done with her life after losing a national election that dragged her family through the mud and then being forced out of her governorship by a looming personal bankruptcy that would have been thrust upon her by those who want her destroyed at any cost. What does she do with the "hand" she's dealt? She writes on it and gets everyone to read that her message is energy, tax cuts and lifting the American spirit. I would have just flipped them the bird and headed off to an island somewhere if it was me.
There are days when this blogger just wants to give up on the punditry, the political science text books and how politicos judge politicians by set rules and strategies. I've said it before and I'll say it again. I'm just a mere mortal here.
We just don't understand the scope of it yet. We're just not capable of seeing how big she really is. We think the biggest thing she could ever do is to run. But, someday, she's going to fly.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Happy Birthday, Ronald Reagan. We are Coming Home.
I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace, a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity, and if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it, and see it still.
And how stand the city on this winter night? More prosperous, more secure, and happier than it was eight years ago. But more than that; after two hundred years, two centuries, she still stands strong and true on the granite ridge, and her glow has held steady no matter what storm. And she's still a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have freedom, for all the pilgrims from all the lost places who are hurtling through the darkness, toward home.
We've done our part. And as I walk off into the city streets, a final word to the men and women of the Reagan revolution, the men and women across America who for eight years did the work that brought America back. My friends: We did it. We weren't just marking time. We made a difference. We made the city stronger. We made the city freer, and we left her in good hands. All in all, not bad, not bad at all.
And so, good-bye, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.
-Ronald Reagan's Fairwell Address to the Nation
Although the city has lost it's shine and there was a moment of hopelessness and despair, we exiles of that city found each other one day in front of the Capitol building in Washington. And we knew that the real America still lived in our hearts. We knew there were millions of us out there that still wanted it to be, to be that shining city on a hill. That city shines in our hearts. We know that some day, it will shine again on our political landscape. So I say that our birthday present to Ronald Reagan shall be our commitment to work harder and become stronger in unity as we honor him by taking back the city.
Ronald Reagan is my political hero and the greatest president of my lifetime. His face deserves to be on Mount Rushmore. He motivated me to get into political science and to work hard as an entrepreneur. As a partner in a business that's beginning to grow as we take on more accounts and a new investor, I pray to God and give thanks to Ronald Reagan, who watches over our nation, our Tea Party movement and the conservative groundswell of today with pride. All of the success I see in my future can be attributed to the fact that Ronald Reagan created an environment that encouraged a young, wet behind the ears, college kid to go after it, sometimes successfully and sometimes not. But that's what growing, learning and becoming successful is all about.
When Ronald Reagan was president, my country was a beautiful place. It was a place where people could chase their dreams and be rewarded for hard work. My beautiful country was in great hands as I left college for the work force. In a matter of two years, I had made it to supervisor in my company before being recruited by an old boss to manage a department in the company that he left to work for. Ronald Reagan's economic policies and belief in the capitalist system worked for me as well as for many others.
Things have changed since then. Today, my partner and I build a business against a rising tide of big government, excessive regulation and a market with dwindling capital. Rather than complain, I see this as an opportunity to build the business against the odds so that it will be ready for the day that my country comes back to me as that shining city on a hill that Ronald Reagan once built. As the business grows and with Bob McDonnell as my governor, my state will become a microcosm of the shining city just in time for the business to mature into a full blown entity that turns a profit. This will happen just in time for 2012, when we will elect a president who will run our country the way Reagan did.
When that happens, I will be in control of my destiny again as will we all. We are the unwashed masses now. We are middle America: middle class, blue collar, white collar hard working people. Some day, we will control our own destinies and thrive in a free country where our government will no longer get in our way, but work in response to what we say, working with us by our side and getting out of the way when we ask it to. I believe we will clean up nicely when it is our turn to govern.
Tonight, we will watch Sarah Palin give a major speech to the Tea Party Convention. My heart, once saddened by the passing of Ronald Reagan, will once again be filled with the hopes and dreams that have been dormant since I was a young conservative Republican. Ladies and gentleman, we are coming back. Our country is coming back. And although we are on the outside now and in exile, when we meet, whether it be millions of us strong in Washington, thousands of us strong in our home towns or a thousand of us at a Tea Party workshop strategizing our way back to the "city," we see each other and take great joy in knowing that we are still the people who once lived in that shining city on a hill, and we are coming home again.
God bless America.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
You Can Tell a Storm is Coming When the Waters Get Rough
The clouds prepare for battle
In the dark and brooding silence.
Bruised and sullen stormclouds
Have the light of day obscured.
Looming low and ominous
In twilight premature
Thunderheads are rumbling
In a distant overture...
All at once, the clouds are parted.
Light streams down in bright unbroken beams...
Follow men's eyes as they look to the skies.
The shifting shafts of shining weave the fabric of their dreams...
-Jacobs Ladder by Rush
We're at the "distant overture" portion of the song. The clouds may not part for another year or two. We know by now that in the world of Sarah Palin, nothing is ever easy and nothing is ever handed to her. When it comes to stretching the fabric of existence or kicking a ball that sets a game into motion, Sarah Palin (although a victim of vicious smears, most unwarranted, and guided by divine providence) is very proactive and demonstrates the ability to create "mini big bangs" of political creation on her own with a blackberry, a laptop and now a Fox News camera and microphone. She is certainly creating a storm right now of her own volition, and many don't know what to think of it.
This entree makes its own sauce, but in a way not neatly categorized in a cookbook or a political science textbook for that matter. Palin is creating her own mix, combining isoltationist libertarians, internationalist moderates and right wing social and fiscal conservatives. The only thing she hasn't added to the mix is a liberal, and in Palin's political cookbook, there is no mention of any.
If this is the building of a big tent, many right now wonder if Palin can nail it down strong enough so that it can weather the major storm that is headed directly for Camp Republican. You know that storm is coming because the waters are getting rough and you can hear the thunder.
The left is in a tizzy. They will make up anything to smear her. They have claimed federal indictments that didn't exist, tax cheating while operating within the confines of a law that clearly shows it's not, non-existent divorces and a child that supposedly is not hers. Throw these loons out of the mix. There are no legitimate political arguments here.
However, there are legitimate polical arguments on the right. Palin's endorsements of John McCain and Rand Paul have caused a firestorm. And, dare I say, legitimate ones that are based on political decisions, political facts and political theory. In other words, the grown ups on the right are not making these things up and the children on the right are proving themselves unwilling to play with the rest of us; so they are picking up their toys and going home.
The grown ups are hashing things out. While the arguing may be loud at times, the smart ones are aware that how they behave will determine whether the movement is able to withstand the "duke it out" portion of the program that Palin laid out in an interview with Rush Limbaugh. Sarah Palin says this is healthy and will make the Republican party much stronger at the end of the day.
Sarah Palin has an uncanny ability to alienate those who don't get their way all the time while attracting those who realize that freedom and liberty sometimes requires that we allow people to co-exist despite their differences. Supporting Sarah Palin, even when she supports candidates like McCain and Paul is not selling out. It's called pragmatism.
Ronald Reagan knew that you would not build a coalition by pandering to one special interest. Instead, he allowed many groups into the tent. Although I am much more supportive of the religious right today than I was as a young college kid, as a Catholic and as a realist, I've not always agreed with their means, even if I've always agreed with their ends. Yet my hero, Ronald Reagan gave them a seat at the table, and in the end became a great president who did not rule the U.S. like Jerry Falwell, but created a U.S. where people like Falwell and his followers could be free to live their lives as they saw fit.
And if we want to live our lives as we see fit and support candidates who we like, than we need to allow others to do the same. This isn't a liberal versus conservative thing. Liberalism is a bankrupt philosophy. It does not count. This is a details versus the big picture thing. We're thinking this thing out; and even though some of us on are opposing sides, our opinions are legitimate and worthy of discussing.
We don't need to bash or harshly criticize those who think that Palin is doing the wrong thing by endorsing McCain or Paul. We need to respect each other's opinions and agree to disagree agreeably. I'm becoming increasingly more impressed with each passing day about Sarah's smarts and savvy, even if I don't completely understand what she's doing. Up until a few short days ago, I used to think it was necessary to attack every idiot that tries to portray Palin as dumb. After re-thinking this, I believe we should let them continue that line of attack without really responding. It's to our advantage that they continue to underestimate her. We know how smart Sarah Palin is. Keep it low.
Sarah Palin can be over the top sometimes, but she always ends up at a bottom line that equals the same one I have. And there is always some component of my philosophy that gets exemplified in her doing so. Take my belief that we should infiltrate the pop culture and offset the liberal bias. I didn't exactly say, go on Conan O'Brien and mock William Shatner. I said we need to infiltrate the media. I didn't exactly say, go on Fox News and become a contributor. I said we need to do to the left the same exact things that they did to us (it's their game, let's beat them at it). I didn't exactly say turn the word "retarded" into a PC issue and use PC against them like they've done to us. I said we need to welcome libertarians into the coalition. I didn't say to endorse Rand Paul.
When looking at each part individually, it may not make sense to those want to critique and pick apart her every move. But, when the right discusses these things, they are legitimate discussions and must be looked at with much more respect than the stupid stuff like whether or not Levi Johnston saw Todd Palin drinking beer in his shed. But in the end, the discussion should lead us to understand that the whole is the sum of the parts and not just individual pieces.
When the storms clears, you will find that the beach has been cleaned of all its debris and that the waterways once clogged with kelp and seaweed are now opened for the fish to freely swim through again. When the clouds part and the beam of sunlight shines through, we will all look back and smack our heads, saying aloud "now I get it."
Read Going Rogue: An American Life. It tells you exactly how this woman thinks. It may be a little outside of the box for many of us. And, it may not seem realistic to some. But if past performance is any guarantee of future returns, look for Sarah Palin to tear this thing apart and rebuild it again is such a way that even those who disagree with her on McCain and Paul will benefit in ways never before imagined.
-cross posted at Sarah's Web Brigade
In the dark and brooding silence.
Bruised and sullen stormclouds
Have the light of day obscured.
Looming low and ominous
In twilight premature
Thunderheads are rumbling
In a distant overture...
All at once, the clouds are parted.
Light streams down in bright unbroken beams...
Follow men's eyes as they look to the skies.
The shifting shafts of shining weave the fabric of their dreams...
-Jacobs Ladder by Rush
We're at the "distant overture" portion of the song. The clouds may not part for another year or two. We know by now that in the world of Sarah Palin, nothing is ever easy and nothing is ever handed to her. When it comes to stretching the fabric of existence or kicking a ball that sets a game into motion, Sarah Palin (although a victim of vicious smears, most unwarranted, and guided by divine providence) is very proactive and demonstrates the ability to create "mini big bangs" of political creation on her own with a blackberry, a laptop and now a Fox News camera and microphone. She is certainly creating a storm right now of her own volition, and many don't know what to think of it.
This entree makes its own sauce, but in a way not neatly categorized in a cookbook or a political science textbook for that matter. Palin is creating her own mix, combining isoltationist libertarians, internationalist moderates and right wing social and fiscal conservatives. The only thing she hasn't added to the mix is a liberal, and in Palin's political cookbook, there is no mention of any.
If this is the building of a big tent, many right now wonder if Palin can nail it down strong enough so that it can weather the major storm that is headed directly for Camp Republican. You know that storm is coming because the waters are getting rough and you can hear the thunder.
The left is in a tizzy. They will make up anything to smear her. They have claimed federal indictments that didn't exist, tax cheating while operating within the confines of a law that clearly shows it's not, non-existent divorces and a child that supposedly is not hers. Throw these loons out of the mix. There are no legitimate political arguments here.
However, there are legitimate polical arguments on the right. Palin's endorsements of John McCain and Rand Paul have caused a firestorm. And, dare I say, legitimate ones that are based on political decisions, political facts and political theory. In other words, the grown ups on the right are not making these things up and the children on the right are proving themselves unwilling to play with the rest of us; so they are picking up their toys and going home.
The grown ups are hashing things out. While the arguing may be loud at times, the smart ones are aware that how they behave will determine whether the movement is able to withstand the "duke it out" portion of the program that Palin laid out in an interview with Rush Limbaugh. Sarah Palin says this is healthy and will make the Republican party much stronger at the end of the day.
Sarah Palin has an uncanny ability to alienate those who don't get their way all the time while attracting those who realize that freedom and liberty sometimes requires that we allow people to co-exist despite their differences. Supporting Sarah Palin, even when she supports candidates like McCain and Paul is not selling out. It's called pragmatism.
Ronald Reagan knew that you would not build a coalition by pandering to one special interest. Instead, he allowed many groups into the tent. Although I am much more supportive of the religious right today than I was as a young college kid, as a Catholic and as a realist, I've not always agreed with their means, even if I've always agreed with their ends. Yet my hero, Ronald Reagan gave them a seat at the table, and in the end became a great president who did not rule the U.S. like Jerry Falwell, but created a U.S. where people like Falwell and his followers could be free to live their lives as they saw fit.
And if we want to live our lives as we see fit and support candidates who we like, than we need to allow others to do the same. This isn't a liberal versus conservative thing. Liberalism is a bankrupt philosophy. It does not count. This is a details versus the big picture thing. We're thinking this thing out; and even though some of us on are opposing sides, our opinions are legitimate and worthy of discussing.
We don't need to bash or harshly criticize those who think that Palin is doing the wrong thing by endorsing McCain or Paul. We need to respect each other's opinions and agree to disagree agreeably. I'm becoming increasingly more impressed with each passing day about Sarah's smarts and savvy, even if I don't completely understand what she's doing. Up until a few short days ago, I used to think it was necessary to attack every idiot that tries to portray Palin as dumb. After re-thinking this, I believe we should let them continue that line of attack without really responding. It's to our advantage that they continue to underestimate her. We know how smart Sarah Palin is. Keep it low.
Sarah Palin can be over the top sometimes, but she always ends up at a bottom line that equals the same one I have. And there is always some component of my philosophy that gets exemplified in her doing so. Take my belief that we should infiltrate the pop culture and offset the liberal bias. I didn't exactly say, go on Conan O'Brien and mock William Shatner. I said we need to infiltrate the media. I didn't exactly say, go on Fox News and become a contributor. I said we need to do to the left the same exact things that they did to us (it's their game, let's beat them at it). I didn't exactly say turn the word "retarded" into a PC issue and use PC against them like they've done to us. I said we need to welcome libertarians into the coalition. I didn't say to endorse Rand Paul.
When looking at each part individually, it may not make sense to those want to critique and pick apart her every move. But, when the right discusses these things, they are legitimate discussions and must be looked at with much more respect than the stupid stuff like whether or not Levi Johnston saw Todd Palin drinking beer in his shed. But in the end, the discussion should lead us to understand that the whole is the sum of the parts and not just individual pieces.
When the storms clears, you will find that the beach has been cleaned of all its debris and that the waterways once clogged with kelp and seaweed are now opened for the fish to freely swim through again. When the clouds part and the beam of sunlight shines through, we will all look back and smack our heads, saying aloud "now I get it."
Read Going Rogue: An American Life. It tells you exactly how this woman thinks. It may be a little outside of the box for many of us. And, it may not seem realistic to some. But if past performance is any guarantee of future returns, look for Sarah Palin to tear this thing apart and rebuild it again is such a way that even those who disagree with her on McCain and Paul will benefit in ways never before imagined.
-cross posted at Sarah's Web Brigade
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